WARNING! NOT a pre-season annual baseball thread!! (with apologies to you-know-who)

[M&M Guy]

Damn, I was all excited when I saw the "WARNING...baseball..."

I saw that today when ESPN was broadcasting the Boston/Tampa Bay pre-season game, because the start was apparently delayed for an hour because of this "dispute". Here's my question: all of the staff that was supposed to go, coaches, trainers, etc., do they normally go on regular-season road trips? And, if they do, doesn't the team usually pay for their travel? So, is this dispute over an additional $40,000 "appearance fee" per person? Or did these people assume baseball or the team was paying for the trip, and they just recently found out they were going to have to pay for it out of their own pocket?

If it's the latter, I agree with the "walkout". If it's the former, then staff are getting as spoiled as the players.

And, until what-his-name comes down from the mountain, I'll avoid saying "Go Cubbies!" in this thread.